AC/DC are "forever thankful" to Axl Rose for stepping in to perform vocals on their 2016 tour.

The 'Highway to Hell' rockers were hit with a major blow when frontman Brian Johnson was told to "stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss", but now he's back in the 'Thunderstruck' band and ready to rock again after three years of treatment.

Guitarist Angus Young has admitted they had no idea what would happen next after Brian exited the tour, but fortunately the Guns N' Roses singer offered his services and they continued the run.

Angus told The Sun newspaper's Bizarre column: "We’ve had our fair share of ­tragedies. Back in 1980, we lost our lead singer Bon Scott and that was a very dark patch for us. But it was my brother (Malcolm) who contacted me at the time and said that instead of moping about, we should just keep on doing what we had been doing before.

“In 2016 it looked very difficult again. We were at another unknown juncture because with Brian’s hearing problems we didn’t know what would happen.

“There was a real risk of him going deaf if we carried on, and none of us wanted that.

“So we had to cancel the rest of the tour with no idea what would happen next, but we were lucky enough that Axl Rose stepped in to help us out. It wasn’t planned like that — he got in touch and we’ll be forever thankful and grateful he did it.”

The 'Back in Black' rockers have reunited for their new album, 'Power Up', with bassist Cliff Williams, drummer Phil Rudd and rhythm guitarist Stevie Young reprising their roles.

Late guitarist Malcolm Young - who passed away in 2017 - is the reason the rock legends hit the studio again and he massively influenced their first album since 2014's 'Rock or Bust'.

Angus added: “A lot of these were ideas that Malcolm and myself had worked on, and I knew he had put a lot of effort into them. These were songs we always wanted to get released.

“I thought, ‘Now’s the time to go through them’. I picked out ones I knew he was very fond of and so, for Malcolm – and myself too – I was determined to get these songs out there.

“These songs represent the band he knew, and that’s why everyone was eager to be on board.”